Game apparatus.



F. H. LEHMAN.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED nic. 21, |914.

1,153,395, Patent-ed Sept. 14, 1915.

ll 1l /NVENTOR v M M my@ 7M um ser# rn arias FRANK Hi. LEHMAN, OF LEBANO, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAME APPARATUS.

Application filed December 21, 1914.-.

To all 4who/a it may concern Be it known that l, FRANK H. Lin-Dian, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Lebanon, county of Lebanon, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in gamefapparatus and more particularly to the type olf such apparatus wherein t-he play'-` ers score,or move ronione station to another, or otherwise progress toward some dsired end in accordance with directions re` sultmg from the actuation of an indicating device.

One object of the invention is to provide an indicating device of a unique and novel kind, comprising a vertical kupright or post like member having a flexible pendulous member attached thereto, the latter being adapted tobe thrown by the player in such a manner as to twine and untwine about the vertical member, and, according to the dettness and chance oit the throw, either to be caught and arrested by means provided on the vertical member orthat purpose, or to continue its twining and untwining movement until its momentum has been spent,

when it may drop upon a base at the footr of the vertical member. Both the vertical member and the base bear indicia suitable for rewardingfskill and judgment on the part ofV the player, and for otherwise affording opportunity for playing an interesting and entertaining game.

A further object of the inveption is to provide, in conjunction with tli""'indicating device, a game board havingrepresented thereon a course of stations for the move ment of playing men, suchcourse being arranged to ailord amusement to the players and to arouse a spirit4 of friendly rivalry` between them. j

A further object of the invention is to provide a game made of few parts which may be readily and easily assembled, and which, when knocked down, may be coin'- pletely contained in a compact box, all ot said parts being ot simple construction and designed for economical manufacture.

lilith the above and other objects in View the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts` Specification of Letters '.atent.

Patented Sept. la, i915.

Serial No. 878,399.

as hereinafterniore fully described, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing lifigure l is a perspective view of my improved game showing the parts Vthereof as the same ap.n

f pear when completelyassembled. Fig. 2 is a form of an upright or post which may be made in a variety ot different shapes. ln the present instance l preier to construct this member 1n theshape of a tan, the same having a lower and substantially cylindrical portion or shank l, and an upper flat sheet 'portion 2, the latter being made of some comparatively thin and rigid sheet materiah such as card board, bone, Celluloid, sheet metal, glass or wood. The 'portion 2 is iirmly secured to the shank in any suitable and obviousmanner, as for instance by seating the same in a longitudinal slot cut in the upper end of the shank and. applying glue or inserting tacks transversely1 in the shank.

For playing the game it is requisite, as will hereinafter more clearly appear, that the membei1 P be erected and firmly support ed in a vertical position, and for so positioning and securing said member any suit-- able means may be, adopted. l prefer, however, to employ for this purpose a flat base having a socket centrally formed therein and adapted to receive the lower part of the shank l, and I further prefer to torni this base in the nature of .an approximately rectangular boX such as'B, having alo-wer or' body part Ay? and a lid AQ .ri/block C arranged inthecenter' of the box is formed with a socket lll adapted to receive the lower end l1 ot' the shank, and aperforation lf of appropriate size and shape in the lid ot the box permits the insertion of the shank on the vertical member will be'sutficient to:

seat it securely on the base.

rThe upper portion. 2 or the vertical mem-j 'as metal or glass, and is provided with an indicating point as 91. In playing the game,

the bob is taken upby the player and thrown horizontally in such a manner that the member 1 0 will repeatedly twine and -untwine about Vthe vertical member, normally continuing this movement in the nature of a pendulum until its momentum has been exhausted when it will drop upon the lid A of the box. As will be understood, this would be the invariable movement of the pendulous member when thrown about the member P, were the path of the former free from interruption or interference. However,lfor the purpose of varying the movement, rendering the result of anyV given throw Vto some degree uncertain, and thus adding an element of novel interest to the operation of the device, while affording the player an opportunity for vthe exercise of skill and judgment, I provide means whereby the member l0 may be arrested, when the bob is yso thrown as to bring said member into coperation with such means. These meansmay take on a'number of different forms, designs and shapes. VIn the drawings I illustratev an embodiment'of my invention wherein these means are shown as consisting of perforatlons as 4 and 5 1n the #portion 2 of the vertical member, through which vthe bob 9 may pass when so thrown as'to coincide therewith, and wherein the boh may be caught inthe manner indicated by the dotted lines. I likewise show additional'means for the same purpose consistw ing of marginal indentures 6 and 7 cut in the lateral edges of theportion 2. It will be clear that when the bob is thrown so as to bring the cord 8 into coincidence with either of these indentures,vthe same will be caught therein and the movement of the member 10 thus again arrested.V Adjacent these means for catching the bob and the y cord on` the ymember Pare marked numerical Y indicia or arbitrary values' as for example 4, 5, 2, 2, and on the upper surface of the box Ylidor base is represented a circle m divided into a plurality'of segments as z', o, g, y', k, and 7c, said segments being alternatelyplain or inthe common color ofthe base, and alternately of a series lof different colors such for example as red, blue and green.' Within the outer circle m is a smaller circle n concentric therewith, and likewise in the common color of the base.

In connection with the indicating device as thus described, I employ a game board, imprinted with a course of suitably .spaced and colored stations for the movement o playing men in accordance with directions denoted by the various indicia. Preferably I utilize the base, or, as in the present instance, the lid A of the base box for this purpose, marking thereon a continuous course as 0 of uniformly patterned spaces or stations as c1, adjacent to, and following the marginal sides thereof. The course as shown is intended for either two or four players, opposing players moving their respective men in opposite directions, so that the initial or starting point of one player becomes the terminal or objective point of his opponent. These initial and terminal points are represented by the opposed stations e and el, preferably located centrally 0n one side of the board, and having an inclosed space marked Goal between them. On the opposite side of the board, intermediate the stations e and e1 in the course is an interrupting space d marked in some appropriate and significant manner, as in this case at d1 by the word Exchange The stations c1 of the course are arranged in successive sets, the stations of each set being equal in number to the colored segments, as 7i, g and h, of the circle m, and the individual members of cach set are colored successively to correspond with the different respective colors of the successive colored segments. Disks, such as s, shown on the right hand starting station e may be used for playing men.

The rules for playing the game will, of course, be purely arbitrary, and may be modified to a great extent; but by wav of suggesting a preferred mode of procedure and play, it may be observed that the players will play in alternation, and at the outstart opposing players will place their respective men on the opposite starting stations e and c1 respectively. Then the first player takes up the bob 9 and throws it around the vertical member l?. Either the bob will now be caught in one of the perforations al, 5, or the cord S in one of the indentures 6, 7, or, after the pendulous member has twined and untwined several times about the vertical member, the bob will alight on one of the segments z', o, v7, j, L, 7s of the board. Should the throw result in the bob being caught in one of the perforations or indentures, the player, assuming him to control the man on the right hand starting station, advances said man along the course to the right such number of stations as the numerical indication marked adjacent said perforation or indenture may direct. The player, likewise, having thus effected one of the more diliicult throws `of the game, becomes entitled to another turn. Should his throw nowresult in the bob dropping on the.v board in the position shown in the drawing with the point thereof on the red segment z', the player advances along the course as before to the next station bearing the color of this segment, receiving however for such throw n o additional turn. Y The opposing player then throws theA bob, advancing his man, however to the left along the course. rihus whenever either the bob or the cord happens to catch on the vertical member, the player making the throw advances in accordance with the numerical indicia and is privileged to take another turn, and when the bob alights on the board with its point on one of the colored segments, the player advances to the next station bearing the color struck, without however receiving an additional turn, and so on. Should the bob drop with its point on one of the plain segments 0, (i, 1, the player goes back to the nearest station bearing the color of the colored segment nearest the point of the bob, and in case the point of the bob falls within the small circle a, the player goes back to the starting point. The player first arriving at the space d and making a throw entitling him to advance across the same, may, instead of sol doing, should he desire, call out a word indicative of a perference such for example as exchange, and thereupon may exchange both positions and men with his opponent, both players thereafter' continuing along the course in their respective directions as before. The player first reaching the point marked Goal, wins the game, but this point having no particular color can only be reached from one of the final stations of the course by a throw giving a numerical indication, which latter, as is understood can only be attained when the pendulous member is caught on the vertical member.

l have noticed that when the socket block C is securely aflixed to the base or box B, the bob upon falling on the board has a tendency to drop repeatedly on certain segments of the circle m to the exclusion of others and thus render the chances of players throwing from opposite sides of the vertical member disproportionate. rlhis tendency may be overcome by disposing the socket block C loosely in the box or mount ing the same on a pivot (not shown) whereby it may be free to revolve in a horizontal plane, thus enabling the vertical member to be rotated on its vertical axis in response to the torsional stress of the pendulous member when thrown about the same. This, therefore, together with many other conceivable modifications of both the indicating device and the playing board, I regard as falling within the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secu-re' by Letters atentzl. ln game apparatus, a vertically supported member of thin sheet material, a flexible pendulous member attached thereto and adapted to be thrown to twine about the same', and means formed integral with the vertical member whereby said pendu lous member may be caughtwhen so thrown.

Qfn game apparatus, a vertically supported member having an upper portion of thin sheet material, a flexible pendulous member attached to said vertical member and adapted to be thrown to twine about the same, and means formed integral with said upper portion of said vertical member, whereby said pendulous member may be caught when so thrown.

3. ln game apparatus, a vertically supported member of thin sheet material, a flexible pendulous member attached thereto and adapted to be thrown to twine about the same, and means provided on the vertical member whereby said pendulous member may be caught when so thrown, saidV means including perforations in said vertical member.

4;. In game apparatus, a vertically supported member of thin sheet material, a flexible pendulous member attached thereto and adapted to be thrown to twine about the same, and means provided on said vertical member whereby said pendulous member may be caught when so thrown, said means including indentures cut in the marginal sides of said vertical member.

5. In game apparatus, a vertical member supported on a base, a flexible pendulous member attached to said vertical member and adapted to be thrown to twine about the same, said pendulousmember consisting of a. cord or ligature having a fiat sided bob secured to the end thereof.

6. In game apparatus, a base having a continuous surface, a vertical member cen-f trally erected of said base, a flexible pendulous member attached to said vertical mem# ber and adapted to be thrown so as to twine about the same and to alight on said base, said base being divided into a plurality of sections having predetermined designations.

7. In a game, the combination with an indicating device of a substantially rectangular game board having represented thereon a plurality of successive stations forming` a course for the travel ofv playing men, said course lying adjacent the marginal sides of the board and following the same, and said course being relativelv narrow and designed for the movement of said playing men in opposite directions thereon, initial and terminal stations in said course arranged opposite each other at a central point on one side of the board, said stations having www i Y i "o in said ield space, and another station an intervening Ii'eldspaoe between them located on the side of the board opposite With `a station marked Goal `in line With said stations. i0 said course but distinct therefrom located In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my Vadjacent said initial and terminal stations signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK H. LEHMAN. Witnesses MARY E. BAIR, RALPH H. BEHNEY.

marked EXohange, likewise in line With said course and at a point therein interme- A I diate said initial and terminal stations, but

C'opies` of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, -Washington, D. G. 

